Categories: 2024 Postgame Recaps

Castellanos features in Phillies’ emotion-filled, series-salvaging win over Giants

Nick Castellanos went 3-for-5 in Wednesday’s win. (Melissa Tamez/Icon Sportswire)

SAN FRANCISCO — A road trip that started off emotionally finished on a similar note, and Bryce Harper was at the center of this one, too.

Five days after being ejected in the first inning in Denver, the Phillies’ and Giants’ benches and bullpens cleared Wednesday when Harper took exception to two straight high-and-in fastballs by Giants starter Kyle Harrison — the second one higher and farther in than the first, nearly hitting Harper in the head.

But this time, Harper stayed in the game, and this time, the Phillies at least partially erased some of the tension with a victory. Nick Castellanos went 3-for-5 with a two-run homer and a double, driving in two and scoring two. His seven total bases is a season high.

“Casty had a big day,” manager Rob Thomson said postgame, before praising him for bouncing back from his 3-for-22 start to the trip. “He just keeps grinding. And he’s been through it before, he’s been through it a lot of times. And he just keeps battling.”

Meanwhile, Cristopher Sánchez — who started Friday the night of Harper’s ejection — shut the Giants down. He threw six scoreless innings, allowing just four hits and striking out seven. His first scoreless start of the season lowered his ERA to 2.83.

“This kid just keeps getting better,” Thomson said. “I think just watching it from the side, I think that was the best command he’s had all year.”

Unlike Zack Wheeler on Tuesday night, Sánchez got run support, and it came early. Kyle Schwarber hit a leadoff home run to add to what’s been an outstanding start to his season against lefties. He entered the day slashing .337/.444/.494 against them.

It was Schwarber’s 36th career leadoff homer, 23rd as a Phillie and fifth this season.

“Especially going into this game, where we hadn’t scored for a while, I think it just pumps everybody up a little bit,” Thomson said of the homer. “We usually do pretty well when we score first and get on top, get the other team out on their heels.”

Cristian Pache doubled that lead with an RBI single in the second, part of a rally that Castellanos started. Pache also had two hits on the day. In fact, each of the last five hitters in the Phillies’ lineup had multiple hits, except for Whit Merrifield, who nonetheless doubled. Castellanos, Bryson Stott, Merrifield, Garrett Stubbs and Pache went a combined 10-for-22 with a homer, two doubles and two walks.

After those two walks, Schwarber and Harper padded the cushion with RBI singles in the eighth, bringing the lead to 6-0.

Given the rest of the road trip, the collective offensive performance was a welcomed sight. The Phillies scored 16 total runs in the first five games, and six came in one inning. The 14 hits on Wednesday is their second most of the season. Gregory Soto, Seranthony Domínguez and Spencer Turnbull ended the game out of the bullpen, with a two-out RBI bloop single spoiling the shutout in the ninth.

The Phillies end the road trip at 2-4, which is far from great but looks a whole lot better than 1-5. They haven’t been swept in a three-plus-game series since May 30-June 1, 2023, when a trio of losses in New York brought them to six games under .500.

The 2024 Phillies are 21 games over .500, their National League East lead at 5 1/2 games. And given the westward swing as a whole — with all its emotion from start to finish and a healthy dose of tough losses — Thursday’s off day will come at an opportune time.

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